Our guest this week is Dennis Watkins of Oak Park, IL who is a professional magician and father of two adopted children, including a son who is Autistic. 

Dennis and his husband, Sean Kelly, have been married for seven years and are the proud parents of two adopted children: Magnolia (15 months) and Henry (5), who is Autistic.  

Dennis hails from Dallas and a long line of family magicians.  His grandfather, Ed Watkins, was a leader amongst magicians in Texas who had.a national reputation. 

After taking a BFA from Southern Methodist University, Dennis pursued a career in theatre.  Working his way up from a performer to being a director, Dennis is proprietor of The Magic Parlour, located in downtown Chicago, now in it's 15th season, where he performs six shows a week, which according to Trip Advisor it is the #1 show in Chicago.  

Dennis has quite a story to tell and we’ll hear it on this week’s episode of the SFN Dad to Dad Podcast.

Show Notes -
Phone – (312) 300-6803
Email – [email protected]
Website - https://denniswatkins.net/
Website - http://www.themagicparlourchicago.com/
LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/dennisrwatkins/
Adoption Center of Illinois – https://www.adoptioncenterofillinois.org/

Special Fathers Network - 
SFN is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Many of the 800+ SFN Mentor Fathers, who are raising kids with special needs, have said: "I wish there was something like this when we first received our child's diagnosis. I felt so isolated.  There was no one within my family, at work, at church or within my friend group who understood or could relate to what I was going through."

SFN Mentor Fathers share their experiences with younger dads closer to the beginning of their journey raising a child with the same or similar special needs. The SFN Mentor Fathers do NOT offer legal or medical advice, that is what lawyers and doctors do. They simply share their experiences and how they have made the most of challenging situations.

Check out the 21CD YouTube Channel with dozens of videos on topics relevant to dads raising children with special needs - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzDFCvQimWNEb158ll6Q4cA/videos

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Special Fathers Network: https://21stcenturydads.org/